Thrifty Easter Ideas

We had a terrible flood last summer and I lost all of my Easter decorations, baskets I used for my kids year after year and other miscellaneous items. I am in dire financial straits this year and need frugal Easter ideas for kids and grandma as well. I do make my own cards so that helps some. Please advise. Thanks!

Go to a dollar store and buy really small gift bags and a few odds and ends like hair bows, barrettes, soap bubbles, crayons, etc. Maybe they will even have some Easter candy. Or else just give them a t-shirt, something usable. Thrift stores might even have some things that you could use.

I agree with all that has been written here, buy Easter baskets, stuffed animals, etc at thrift stores and buy small toys at one of the Dollar Stores. When my girls were young, I made all of our Easter candy at home. With the price of candy being so high, it is quite a savings, and when my daughters were old enough, we would make the candy together. This created a lot of wonderful memories. Here is a site that has Easter candy recipes that you might want to try: http://candy.about.com/od/eastercandyrecipes/Easter_Candy_Recipes.htm

I made baskets out of bleach bottles one year (below), they were really cute and worked well. Think out of the box on the candy part. I saw some Kool-aid at the dollar store last night, that looks like Alka Seltzer (tablet that fizzes). It wasn't specificially marked "Easter" but I know my grandsons would get a bang of it. You don't need a LOT of candy to make Easter.

Marcia,You can make baskets from any plastic container by cutting the portion you want off or from any empty box. Just cover with papers or even drawings that the kids make. They can decorate their own for a great craft. You can make chicks from their hand prints (paint on palm, turn hand sideways and press onto paper) Fingers are the feathers and draw beak and eyes. Or cut simple rabbit shapes from paper, color or decorate and string together for garland. Use strips of paper and make a homemade paper mache glue and form some eggs. Let the kids paint them different colors and show them off in a bowl for display. I recently made 5 kids their baskets out of things I recycled from home. Holidays are more about crafting and creating by hand and heart than buying or spending a lot of money. And the kids will have fun at the same time making creations with their hands. Just look at things you already have around the house and I agree with the others. If you feel you need to purchase something, try the dollar stores or thrift shops. You can find great treasures in both. Have fun!!!

Have the kids help you make baskets from brown paper grocery bags. Roll the tops down to the appropriate height, attach a twice or ribbon handle, and color with drips from the egg dye (outside of course!). Fill the bag/basket with crumpled newspaper or old plastic bags, then flick the dye with an old paintbrush, toothbrush, or medicine dropper, and let it dry. If you want it to last longer, you can spray it with hair spray afterwards to stiffen it up a bit.